Contents

On pirate captain Rameses' cruise ship, treasure-hunter Nathan "Nate" Drakehas just discovered that Rameses is not holding Nate's friend, antique-dealer Victor "Sully" Sullivan. An explosion from a grenade let off by Nate has caused the ship to begin flooding, and Nate must first make his way out of the cargo hold of the ship, defeating a number of Rameses' Indian Ocean pirates as he does so. After escaping from the hold, Nate is trapped when an electrical box falls on him. Nate is able to push the box off and swim into a dry corridor. However, water soon begins flooding the corridor and Nate makes his escape from the water by climbing through a set of cabins in the ship, eventually coming to the deck of the ship. Here, Nate notices that the ship has capsized and is now on its side.[1]

Nate drops back into the ship through the ballroom, but as he attempts to leave a wounded Rameses reappears. Rameses tells Nate that he will see him in Hell, before shooting at the glass partition holding back the seawater. As water floods into the ballroom, Nate runs, and is able to escape as he jumps into the sea and hands onto a piece of driftwood.[1]

Nate floats back to the Yemeni shore, where he revisits journalist Elena Fisher. After getting over the intial shock of seeing Nate, Elena explains that Sully has been abducted by Katherine Marlowe, who has a caravan heading across the Rub' al Khali desert towards the lost city Iram of the Pillars. Elena has devised a plan involving her (and Nate, now that he has returned) sneaking onto a cargo plane that is preparing to drop supplies to the caravan in the desert. Nate and Elena rest for a few hours, before making their way to the airfield at dawn the next day.[1]

Sink or Swim is the fifteenth chapter of the 2011 video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, sharing its name with a track on the official soundtrack of the game.[3] Gameplay footage from Sink or Swim was seen long before Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception was released, as it was featured at the 2011 E3 conference.[4]